


life's not a paragraph

by Piyo13



Series: Daemon AU [3]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Established Relationship, M/M, They're going on a date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-30 16:11:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12112395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Piyo13/pseuds/Piyo13
Summary: "Do you think you could convince Josef to give you the day off?"Chris sets down his book and rolls over, careful not to steal too much duvet. Marcel is running his fingers through Léonie's fur, and Vreni is a heavy weight near Chris' elbow. Chris traces Marcel's collarbone."When? Tomorrow?"





	life's not a paragraph

**Author's Note:**

> mystery man/captain von boyfriend called Marcel, nicknamed Seli in this; many thanks @jollysailorswan for helping me with that <3 title from e.e. cumming's "since feeling is first", thanks to @smol-merci/poetpiratepest for that <33

"Do you think you could convince Josef to give you the day off?"

Chris sets down his book and rolls over, careful not to steal too much duvet. Marcel is running his fingers through Léonie's fur, and Vreni is a heavy weight near Chris' elbow. Chris traces Marcel's collarbone.

"When? Tomorrow?"

"Mm. 'S what I was hoping."

"My next competition's not for a few weeks, I think I could spare a day, regardless what Josef thinks," Chris says. Josef's been putting up with his shit for years; he'll understand.

"Please," Marcel says, kissing Chris on the nose as he gets up and heads to the bathroom.

Chris dutifully pulls out his phone and sends off a text to Josef, telling him that he won't be at practice tomorrow. The reply doesn't even take a full minute in coming.

_> Franzi says you should be skating suicides overtomorrow and I'm inclined to agree_

_> >Vreni says she loves you too_

_> Mmhm. Have fun, stay safe, use condoms_

Chris snickers. Marcel reappears, and raises an eyebrow, so Chris shows him his phone.  "I got the day off and some life advice from Josef."

Marcel frowns for a second, reading, and Chris watches his expression for the moment he reads Josef's last reply—and is not disappointed. Marcel breaks into a sly grin, and snuggles himself back up under the duvet. He presses himself against Chris' side as Chris prods Vreni into placing his phone on the nightstand.

 _You know, snakes shouldn't be able to roll their eyes,_ he tells her as she wraps the end of her tail securely around his phone.

 _If any other snakes had to put up with you, I'm sure they'd learn,_ she replies, dropping the phone on the nightstand before slithering off the bed with a thud. Chris is about to retort when Marcel runs his fingers lightly over Chris' stomach, thoroughly derailing his train of thought.

"Christophe," Marcel says, his voice low and rumbling in Chris' ear. Léonie huffs and hops off the bed, undoubtedly to find Vreni.

"Yes, Seli?" Chris replies, batting his eyelashes. Marcel kisses him.

"Your coach said you have to have fun and use condoms," he says, rolling his hips against Chris."We wouldn't want to disappoint your coach, now would we?"

"Hm, no, definitely not," Chris replies, seeking out another kiss. "Fun and condoms… clearly Josef intended for us to have a water balloon fight."

Marcel freezes for a second, then takes a pillow and smushes it into Chris' face. He's laughing, though, and after a few seconds he removes the pillow. Chris raises an eyebrow at him. Marcel smiles, then flips himself up so he's straddling Chris, the duvet hanging off him like a badly fitted cloak.

"So?" Marcel asks. "Do you want to?"

Chris reaches up and threads his fingers through Marcel's hair, pulling him down into a kiss. "With you, always."

It ends up being a while before they do any sleeping.

 

Chris is woken up the next morning by soft kisses instead of his alarm clock.

"Mornin'," he mumbles.

"Morning, love," Marcel says, and then pokes Chris in the ribs. "Get up, our train leaves in an hour."

Chris stares up at him blearily.  "Our train?"

Marcel smiles back down at him, with far too much life for this early in the morning. "Yup! We're going on an adventure." He pokes Chris in the ribs again, turning the action into a tickle. Chris squirms, almost crushing Vreni, who's still flicking her tongue in and out slowly, clearly just about as awake as Chris feels in the moment.

"I'm going to prepare breakfast. Léonie, make sure they get up."

"Okay," Léonie replies, and Chris feels the bed dip a little as she hops up. Marcel leaves—presumably to prepare breakfast—and Léonie steps delicately onto Chris' chest. Chris groans, knowing full well where this is going.

"I'm up, I'm up," he says as Léonie delicately flexes a paw, her needle-sharp claws on full display.

"I'm sure," she says wryly, pointedly looking at the way Chris is still sprawled across the bed. Chris scratches her behind the ears, and she purrs at him.

"Alright, move," he tells her. "If I don't get up right this second I'm going to fall back asleep."

"Sssssleep," Vreni hisses, raising her head until she's level with Léonie, and then draping herself over Léonie's back, the rest of her tail quickly following, until Léonie is cocooned within Vreni's coils. "Carry me," Vreni says.

 _Wow, play up the pitiful tone a bit more, why don't you,_ Chris thinks at her. He receives a mental image of a raised middle finger, which he thinks is ironic, given that Vreni doesn't even have legs, let alone fingers. The image intensifies.

Léonie, however, seems not to mind, and twists around, licking the top of Vreni's head. A glow of warm satisfaction oozes across the bond as Léonie steps off Chris' chest, and then leaps to the floor, Vreni's added weight seemingly nothing.

"Seli!" Chris calls.

"What?"

"Carry me?" Chris asks.

Now _who's playing up the pitiful tone,_ Vreni thinks.

"No," Marcel replies.

"But Léonie's carrying Vreni!"

"Léonie has four paws and none of them are preparing your breakfast."

"I… okay, that's fair."

Marcel pokes his head through the door to their bedroom as Chris sits up. "Breakfast is ready, by the way."

"Well, I can't deny food," Chris says, finally hauling himself out of bed. When he emerges into the dining room, the table is set for two, croissants and bread rolls and a platter of cheeses and meats in the middle—and, most importantly, a large cup of frothy coffee for Chris. He rushes over, lifting it to his lips and moaning as he takes a large sip.

"Seli?"

"Hm?" Marcel says, still in the kitchen, finishing up his own tea.

"Have I ever told you that I love you?"

"A few times," Marcel shoots back. "But you could stand to remind me how it goes," he adds, coming over and kissing Chris on the crown of his forehead before he sits down.

"I love you," Chris says, kissing Marcel on the cheek. Marcel smiles, blushing just the faintest hint of red.

"You, too."

They eat in comfortable silence, pressed against each other with the ease of familiarity, at least until Chris is halfway through his second croissant and has a realization.

"Wait, when did you go to the bakery?"

"Babe, you sleep like a fucking rock."

"…okay, probably also fair."

"Definitely fair," Vreni supplies. "Even _I_ woke up."

 

It's only when they're almost at the train station, Vreni looped around Chris' shoulders under his jacket and Léonie sitting in Marcel's Freitag bag, that Chris thinks to ask where they're going.

"It's a surprise," Marcel says. If Vreni or Léonie know, they're both silent accomplices.

"Hm," Chris says. They board a train at Marcel's direction, and Chris nabs a look at the screen as they search for seats.

_Departing to Bern in 5 minutes._

"Ah-hah," Chris says, and Marcel raises an eyebrow at him, gesturing towards some unoccupied seats. Chris sits, Marcel next to him. "We're going to Zurich."

Marcel gives him a wry smile. "Alright, fine, we're going to Züri. Come on though, I was hoping we'd at least get halfway to Bern before you figured it out."

"You hate Bern, there's no way you'd be taking me there."

"Ah, my ever-observant Christophe," Marcel says. Chris snorts.

"You've told me multiple times, and I quote, 'I hate Bern'.  That hardly takes observational skills." Chris entwines his fingers with Marcel's. "Why now, though? Our anniversary isn't for a bit."

"What, a guy can't take his one true love to the place where they met without being interrogated?" Chris raises an eyebrow, and Marcel chuckles. "Fine, fine, Dolder opened for the season yesterday."

Chris laughs. "I see how it is, you ask me to take a day off practice, only to make me practice anyways… clearly you and Josef are plotting behind my back—!"

Marcel slaps Chris. "As if you weren't silently mourning the loss of ice time."

"Oh, he was," Vreni says.

"Traitor," Chris says idly as Marcel smiles, self-satisfied.

"See, I know you," he says. Chris rolls his eyes, but it's a fond action.

"I mean, I should hope so, we've been together what, two years?"

"Four come January, you asshat."

"Ouch, the cruelty. Also, damn, I'm old."

"Marcel's older," Léonie says, with the same shit-eating tone that Marcel himself often uses.

God, Chris loves them.

 _Me, too_ , Vreni thinks, and Chris can see her mental image of a hashtag-same.

 _Way to ruin the moment_ , he shoots back, _hashtag-lame._

"By like, a year," Marcel says.

"Practically decrepit," Chris ascertains. "Did you even bring my skates?"

"Clearly your youth is failing you, if you didn't even notice they're in my bag," Marcel replies, and pats the bag in question. Léonie shifts uncomfortably, her tail lashing.

"I think you just impaled me with a toe-pick."

"Nonsense, I travel with all the proper skate guards."

Léonie still squirms out of the back and makes her way over to Chris' lap.

"In-credible," Marcel says.

"They say daemons are a reflection of their people," Chris says. "And I'd say Léonie likes me."

Marcel doesn't deign that with a reply, just rolls his eyes and leans on Chris' shoulder. Vreni unwinds from around Chris' neck and slips off, into Marcel's lap.

Chris turns to gaze out the window, leaning against Marcel in turn, and the ride to Bern and then Zurich goes without a hitch. 

As they disembark in Zurich's central station—Vreni once again looped around Chris' shoulders, and Léonie weaving between Marcel's legs—the sound of violins washes over them, soon joined by a plethora of other instruments. Marcel brightens immediately, and turns to look at Chris, eyes sparkling.

"I didn't realize the orchestra was playing today!" he says, grabbing Chris' hand and hauling him towards the center of the Bahnhof, where a crowd has already gathered. Marcel stops once they're in a good spot, halfway through the crowd. Chris allows himself a few minutes of staring while Marcel gazes up at the screen, onto which a zoomed-in version of the live players is displayed. Chris squeezes Marcel's hand, and then moves behind him, resting his head on Marcel's shoulder and wrapping his arms around Marcel's waist. Léonie springs up to sit on Chris' shoulder, as easily enraptured by the music as her human.

They stand there together until the song ends, and Marcel sighs happily.

"We can stay longer, you know," Chris says. Marcel shakes his head and kisses Chris on the cheek while Léonie jumps back to the floor.

"No, it's alright. Besides, I already got us tickets for their next concert," Marcel says with a grin.

"Nerd," Vreni says, flicking her tongue against Marcel's ear.

 

Chris, in comparison to Marcel, has always been hopeless at skating with a partner—the closeness unnerves him, and having to watch out for someone else's feet as well as his own never seems to end well. Still, when they arrive at Dolder—much to the enthusiasm of the workers who still recognize Marcel from when he trained there before moving to Geneva—and get onto the ice, daemons finding an unoccupied bench and Vreni huddling into Léonie's fur, Chris takes Marcel's offered hand.

They skate a few laps hand in hand, until Marcel changes their hold so that they're pressed together. They skate another lap like that, switching to swing rolls in sync (Chris only stumbles twice), and when Marcel offers to throw Chris, Chris takes him up on the offer. Getting thrown is fun and besides, Chris always enjoys showing off for the non-skaters who wobble around the edges of the rink, daemons in tow.

He and Marcel glide to the relatively unoccupied center, Marcel's hands around Chris' hips, and Chris jumps just as Marcel lifts, rotating three times before landing like a Lutz. Marcel claps and a few kids give delighted yells, and Chris skates back and kisses Marcel sweetly.

"That was fun."

Marcel smiles and kisses Chris' nose. "Why don't you show off some spins, hm?" he says.

"With pleasure," Chris purrs, skating backwards until he's got enough space and launching immediately into a backwards spin. Chris has always loved spinning; there's something calming in the way the world whips into a blur if he pulls his arms in tight enough, and the elation of hitting the sweet spot of his rocker just right is one he thinks he'll never get tired of.

He switches feet into a death drop, then comes back up into the closest thing to a Biellmann he can manage in his current pants, just because he can. He steps out and, as an afterthought, he tacks on a scratch spin for good measure, raising an arm at his peak acceleration before sweeping out.

Marcel comes over and fixes his hair. "You're beautiful."

Chris blushes. 

In the back of his mind, Vreni floods everything with Léonie- and Marcel-directed fuzzies, and Chris can't help but feel the same.

 

After Dolder, they stop by a grocery to grab lunch, and take it out with them to the promenade where the river meets Lake Zurich. Léonie and Vreni take turns batting crumbs off into the water for the swans while Chris and Marcel eat, shoulder-to-shoulder, content to share their warmth and their silence and the soft, affectionate touches of their daemons.

"You know, I'm feeling like wine," Chris says, a few minutes after he's finished eating. Vreni chuckles as Marcel closes his eyes with a put-upon sigh.

"Edi's Weinstube?" Marcel asks, resigned, while Léonie groans.

"Edi's Weinstube," Chris confirms.

It's a leisurely stroll along the Limmat until they turn and head into the old section of the city proper. Chris and Vreni lead the way, Léonie riding on Chris' shoulder as Marcel lets himself be dragged with a minimum of complaint into the small basement door.

Chris lets Marcel take care of ordering the wine, smiling fondly as Marcel's German slips into his thick Ostschweiz accent as he talks with the cashier. While Marcel finalizes the purchase, Chris and Vreni go take a look around.

"You know, I kind of like this one," Chris muses, inspecting one of the many paintings lining the walls.

 _It has a nice color balance, but the composition leaves something to be desired_ , Vreni offers. Chris hums.

"Chris, if you buy a painting of an erect penis I swear to God I will divorce you," Marcel says flatly, coming up behind them with a bottle of wine and a pair of cups. Chris gasps.

"We're not even married!"

 

They drink their wine in the courtyard—Marcel had the presence of mind to ask for a half-sized bottle rather than a full-sized one—and once they're done, they head out in the direction of the central station. At Vreni's request, they pause on the bridge to look over the Limmat as it flows into the lake, and at the Alps in the distance, the mountains' jagged silhouettes biting the cloudless sky.

"Hey," Marcel says. "Want to go up to Uetliberg?" He gestures with a nod to the tower, just visible over the line of rooftops.

"Only if we take the train and don't hike," Vreni says, a sentiment which Chris agrees with. Not that he doesn't like hiking, but the climb up to Uetliberg is steep and muddy, and—

"I don't have the right shoes," he tells Marcel, who rolls his eyes, but nonetheless still sports a smile.

"Fine, fine, you lazy cow, we'll take the train."

 

The train ride to the top of Uetliberg is a short twenty minutes; their car is crowded, though, and both Marcel and Chris end up standing in the middle, Marcel's arm wrapped around Chris' waist and Léonie's tail wrapped around both their necks. Vreni sits comfortably inside of Chris' jacket, just her head periscoping up to look out the window as Zurich flashes past. The city gives quickly way to autumn-tinted forest, and when they come to a stop, Chris grabs Marcel's hand and pulls him onto the path, making sure to step on the crunchiest leaves he can find along the way.

Marcel laughs—Chris' favorite sound—but joins in nonetheless, and by the time they make it up to the top of the hill, they're both breathless and giggling. They wander over to the edge of the open plaza, looking down onto Zurich as the setting sun starts to cast Uetliberg's shadow over the city; then they wander back to the tower. Marcel fishes out some francs to pay their entrance, and, still hand in hand, they climb to the highest level.

The wind here blows fiercely, sending Vreni, hissing, deeper into Chris' jacket, and pulling Marcel's hair around so wildly that he ties it up into a ponytail.

Chris runs his fingers through it when he pulls Marcel down into a kiss.

They stay up on the viewing platform until the sun finishes coloring the western sky; Chris' hands are cold even though they're tucked into Marcel's back pockets, and it's that and Vreni's increasing complaints about the wind that finally drive them back down, away from the budding show of stars.

They eat at the restaurant at the base of the tower, splitting a pot of fondue and a bottle of wine between the two of them and taking turns scraping the bottom for the gooiest, most deliciously melted bits of cheese. They play footsie under the table, just for good measure, and Chris giggles when he manages to distract Marcel while he's asking the waiter for the check, earning himself a disapproving look which, is exposed as a lie by the way Léonie purrs in his lap.

They leave the restaurant with forty minutes to the next train down, strolling leisurely along the lantern-lit trail. They're almost halfway down, and Chris is talking happily about a book he's been waiting for months to come out, when Marcel stops him under one of the deer lanterns with a hand to his elbow.

Chris stops talking and looks at Marcel, concerned. "You okay?" he asks. "Did you forget something?"

Marcel shakes his head. "No, I'm fine. But I did want to ask you something."

Chris frowns more deeply, and is about to ask what Marcel wants to ask him when the words die in his throat, in time with Marcel dropping to one knee. Léonie's standing beside him, tail held high; Chris covers his mouth with his hands while Vreni remembers she's a boa constrictor, and almost cuts off circulation to one of his arms.

"Christophe," Marcel says, smiling and holding out a small box. "Will you marry me?"

There's two matching rings nestled into the box, simple gold bands that seem to glow in the lamplight. Chris can't stop the tears on his cheeks when he says yes.

It's nine-thirty by the time they catch the last train all the way back to Geneva—Vreni spends the entirety of it coiled tightly around Marcel, and Chris keeps glancing, thunderstruck, at is hand, where the ring rests warm and heavy—and it's after midnight by the time they fumble their way back into their apartment and into bed.  

Chris is currently the big spoon, and he presses a kiss between Marcel's shoulder blades. "Seli? I love you."

Marcel rolls over and brushes Chris' hair out of his face. "I love you, too," he says, and takes Chris' hand, kissing first the ring and then his open palm. "Forever."

Chris sighs contentedly and scoots closer, nestling himself against the warmth of Marcel's chest. "Same," he whispers, and lets Marcel's steady breath lull him to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> -marcel proposing was not in the original plan, it just happened  
> -josef congratulates them but still makes chris skate 50 suicides the next morning  
> -[freitag](https://www.freitag.ch/en) is a zurich-based (i think?) company that makes bags recycled from semi truck canvas coverings. they're expensive as fuck but 95% of people in zurich have them  
> -[dolder](https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-6373ece273497e7f792b672278a00777) is zurich's outdoor ice rink; it opens in october and usually has parts cordoned off for actual skaters to practice in  
> -[edi's weinstube](https://f2.blick.ch/img/incoming/origs2181904/4401298059-w2560-h1440/edis-weinbar.jpg) is a real place, which used to be the entryway to a pornography theater? or something. the bar is wallpapered with porno ads and the walls have erotic paintings for sale. when i went, they were mostly watercolor dicks, though i've been told the gallery changes every month or so  
> -the limmat is the river that runs through central zurich; it feeds into lake zurich  
> -[uetliberg](http://gotravelaz.com/wp-content/uploads/images/Uetliberg_30887.jpg) is pretty dang cool ok and you have some [awesome](https://img.myswitzerland.com/mys/n26454/images/buehne/k-12_uto_kulm.jpg) [views](https://img.myswitzerland.com/mys/n64662/images/buehne/st0037354.jpg)  
> -the [flaming deer statues](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Bruno_Weber_-_Uetliberg_IMG_3330.jpg) are [cool and intimidating](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Bruno_Weber%27s_Hirschskulpturen%2C_Aegertenplateau_auf_dem_Uetliberg_2011-11-19_16-27-22.JPG) and based off a local folklore about the founding of the oldest church  
> -[léonie](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/04/d0/df/04d0dfa993d3d0cae6a45ca654f663dc--pretty-cats-beautiful-cats.jpg)  
> -[vreni](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c3/08/d6/c308d656653fc1b919566a73a909aaa9.jpg)


End file.
